With only a week until it was to fully come into effect, the constitutional court today stayed the execution of several articles of the new law on RTVSLO. This is the first semi-success the remains of the Janša regime scored on this front. And even so, it was as much by sheer dumb luck as it was by carefully laid out legal arguments.
Both readers will remember that voters in Muddy Hollows approved the new law in a November referendum. As a result, the SDS shills currently turning RTVSLO into an unwatchable shitshow, nearly ran out of options. The law was on the books and the clock was ticking for selection of the new board and management. So they tried an everything-but-the-kitchen-sink type of a constitutional complaint. And lo-behold!, something actually stuck. But go easy on the champagne, this is all much more fucktangular than it looks.
To fully understand that the hell just happened, one must realise three things.
First, that a stay of execution is in no way indicative of an actual ruling on constitutionality of the legislation. This could go either way. Especially this time around (more on that in a minute).
Second, that the court was very obviously trying to split the difference between continuing the current politically infested cesspool and maybe finding out that the clown-car that filed the complaint actually has a point.
And third, that the government Robert Golob really should have seen this shit coming.
Stay of execution
In theory, a stay of execution by the constitutional court does not indicate the final ruling. This is in stark contrast with most other legal proceedings under Slovenian law, where a stay is granted only if the plaintiff has a reasonable chance of being successful with their claim. At the constitutional court, however these two items are completely separate.
It has happened more than once that a stay of execution was a prelude to an actual ruling of unconstitutionality. But there were also cases when it decidedly was not. So, today’s ruling should not be seen as an indicator to either of the two possible outcomes.
Doubly so when one gets down into the weeds of the actual ruling.
Director general Andrej Grah Whatmough; TV boss Uroš Urbanija; head of the programming council Peter Gregorčič and deputy president of the supervisory board Tamara Besednjak Valič claimed that the institution of RTVSLO would suffer irreparable damage if the law is not stayed but ultimately found to be unconstitutional.
Pengovsky will not bore you with legalese. Suffice it to say that majority at the court just barely bought what the plaintiffs were selling. They openly wrote that staying the law could do just as much damage as not staying. Which is why they put the kibosh on only three very specific articles of the law, dealing with when the new management bodies take power.
Livid ladies
Curiously, the court was very explicit about stay not affecting the selection procedures for new management bodies. It only affects execution of their powers. Which might be interpreted as the plaintiffs not having a very persuasive case (but see above). It could also signal that the court is trying to be too political for its own good (see below).
Incidentally, this sort of hair-splitting threw the dissenting minority into an apoplectic fit. The all-female cast of judges Mežnar, Kogovšek Salomon and Šugman Stubbs wrote scathing dissents that did not mince words. In fact, they came this close of accusing the all-male majority of legal quackery. But still, they were in the minority, no matter how sound their argument might seem.
Truth be told, however, the ruling is fairly convoluted. It is as if the court was trying to navigate the hyper-political waters of this case rather than just rule on the issue. And so they threw a bone to the right-wing opposition, while not really damaging the case of the left-liberal ruling coalition.
But as often happens in such cases, trying to appease everyone as well as maintaining institutional integrity usually comes at the expense of the latter. Which is why the only good thing that came out of today’s ruling was the pledge to review the matter post-haste.
Clustefuck
Namely, if the court doesn’t rule on this quickly, the current stay of execution creates a non-zero chance that RTVSLO enters a legal limbo. If this drags on, the public broadcaster could end up without a clear management and supervisory authority. Which could cook up a clusterfuck of epic proportions, as budgets and programming plans could not be debated and approved. And that would only add to the already shitty situation the institution is in.
That said, a lot of this could have been headed off at the pass. Provided the government of Robert Golob had not acted like a bunch of fuckwits and kept their eye on the ball instead.
Obviously, there is not a whole lot they could have done to prevent the constitutional challenge. The plaintiffs have the right and they weren’t shy of using it. However, the government seems to have gotten way too complacent and didn’t take the situation seriously until days ago.
It was only when word leaked from the constitutional court that a stay is in the works, that the government and the coalition sprang into action. They filed additional arguments and moving to delay the proceedings as late as last Wednesday. But the court apparently was not interested. At least not anymore.
Decorum
Thus, the current fuck-up is, in many ways, squarely on the Big Bird and his flock. They really should not have assumed that a ruling in their favour was a foregone conclusion. This way they would have not only shown a necessary deference to the court. They also could have come up with legal argumentation a bit sooner than 24 hours before the court voted on the matter.
Decorum matters, even when it comes to checks and balances and rule of law. If nothing else, today’s ruling was a shot over the bow, that the constitutional court will not simply roll over for Golob’s coalition whenever they please.
